Speech Developmental Sequences 1-4 Months

All babies learn language in stages. They receive information from birth by listening to people talk, make noises and communicate with each other. A baby’s first voice is their cry but they learn to respond in different ways to different pitch levels of voice. If you talk soothingly to a baby, they are more likely to calm than if you talk angrily to them. Before the age of 4 months, it is important to introduce baby to many different sounds and levels of sounds throughout the day.

By the time they are 4 months old, they are beginning to understand the different qualities, pitch and inflections in voices. At this age, they are beginning to use their own voice to practice language through babbling. By spending time with baby, repeating the sounds they are beginning to make, talking to them and singing to them, you are helping them to make connections and develop their own language abilities. Some suggestions to help in this area are:

• Repeat the consonant sounds that baby starts to use
• Give baby words that go along with their consonant sounds (“Ball” for “Bah”, etc.)
• Sing songs and nursery rhymes to baby throughout the day and especially when they are able to attend to you
• Talk to baby throughout the day as you go about your daily activities
• Respond to baby’s cries as this provides feedback to them that they are able to communicate
• Become tuned-in to baby’s cues and respond appropriately
• Use language during routines such as bathing baby, dressing him and feeding him
• Play vocal games with baby using open and closed vowel sounds. Say “Ahh” to the baby and wait for them to respond. Then say “ooo” or “eee” and wait for them to respond again. These back and forth games teach baby pragmatic and semantic rules of language.
• Make funny noises



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